nominal wages

American

plural noun

Economics.

wages measured in terms of money and not by their ability to command goods and services.

nominal wages British

plural noun

another name for money wages

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of nominal wages

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

nominal wages

In his written testimony, he noted there’s been “solid growth” in nominal wages, which are not adjusted for inflation.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

The rolling three-month average showed a 3.6% increase in nominal wages for June, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

That means New Yorkers are pushed into higher income brackets as their nominal wages climb over time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2025

The budget is expected to forecast real wages growth of 0.75% over the year to June 2024, up by half a percentage point from October, with inflation seen slightly lower and nominal wages growing faster.

From Reuters ● May 5, 2023

But protection has not even raised the nominal wages in most of the unprotected industries.

From American Eloquence, Volume 4 Studies In American Political History (1897) by Johnston, Alexander

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023